


A Change to the Status Quo

by J_Lucy_Daisuke



Category: Lupin III
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26373043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_Lucy_Daisuke/pseuds/J_Lucy_Daisuke
Summary: Lupin and Jigen are both getting a little older. Heck, the car is getting a little older. Lupin wants some reassurance Jigen will be okay, but that might require a slight change to how things have been for the longest time.
Relationships: Jigen Daisuke/Arsène Lupin III
Comments: 5
Kudos: 52
Collections: Lupin III Big Bang 2020





	A Change to the Status Quo

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there!
> 
> I don't do too many challenges, but this one was TOO fun to not pass up. Thank you, Lupin Big Bang Crew, for your patience with an old lady, and thank you Toonks for the prompt that allowed me to write one of my favorite pairings. I hope that you like this.

“A month?!” Lupin groaned and sank down in his seat. “I could steal parts quicker and have it fixed!”

“So do that. Sorry, Boss, but that’s the least amount of time it’d take online since it’s a European model. You don’t even wanna know the wait the shop in town gave to have that stuff ship in. If you wanna swipe something and you think it’ll work, be my guest, I can help you install it, or at least try to.” 

Jigen gave a shrug and slammed down the small hood of the car, running a hand through his hair and under his fedora as he looked over at the yellow Fiat parked in the garage of the hideout. It was an old, dust-coated garage off a lonely part of road in Southern Georgia; Jigen wasn’t even sure how Lupin had come across the place. In looked like something out of an old movie—Either one about a close-knit family or one about a haunting, and he couldn’t decide which. There were a few trees lining the property, anything from pears to kumquats, and a pair of small, shallow lakes on the right-hand side that made for piss-poor fishing but good homes for a family of otters on one side and a family of beavers on the other.

Lupin groaned and sat back the folding chair he was seated in under the awing of the double-car garage. “I would, but the car’s dead, remember? I don’t exactly wanna take an Uber to a heist.”

Jigen tilted up the brim of his fedora and sat backwards on an old, plastic deck chair, his eyes narrowed as he looked over the car. The engine was on its last legs, and they both knew it, even if they wouldn’t say it out loud. The body had recently been redone, yet again, but at this point it was like putting a Band-aid on a bullet wound. They’d had to replace the seats in the past year after a few bullets went through it and, in one instance, Goemon’s sword went through it. The windows were all brand new from where they’d been punched out, shot out, or from when Lupin had fallen through them.

“…Maybe it’s just time to get a new car…” Jigen said finally over the screaming of the insects in the summer heat, and Lupin looked to him, blinking.

“What? No way! We’ve had that one forever! There’s no way we could just abandon it!”

“Yeah? It’s a car, Boss. You have a bunch of them. You can afford more. It’s basically a new car anyway, aside from the engine, which is now beyond dead. I know money isn’t really an object here, but the thing’s a damn-near safety hazard.”

“It’s the principle,” Lupin returned, stood, and grabbed his jacket from where it had been perched over the work bench. He rubbed his shoulder as he did so; the damned thing hadn’t stopped aching since they’d gotten there days ago with the car overheating and billowing out smoke from almost every possible orifice. They’d been stealing a vase from a museum—Ancient, Greek, valuable, and more than likely possessed by a spirit. He had fallen on his shoulder hard while scrambling to make a break for it and climb into the car. Normally, some ice would’ve done the trick, but the pain lingered along his shoulder, hip, and down into his thigh even.

Jigen raised his head as he watched this with a deep frown. “Hey. You okay there?”

“Yeah. Just slept weird. That’s all,” Lupin muttered, and tried to hide his almost hobble as he started back towards the two-story farmhouse. Jigen watched this in silence and finished off a cigarette in the suppressive humidity of the humid the country air before throwing the cigarette on the ground, grunting, and standing up from his spot. His back wasn’t what it used to be. He’d been complaining about this enough openly, but this was piled on top of his usual complaints about his teeth.

He continued to rub his back as he wandered in, kicking off this muddied shoes in the doorway and hanging his fedora on a hook near the front door. It was a small, minimally-decorated home, but what it lacked in décor it made up for in other ways. There was space on the property. Enough to shoot, fish (again, poorly), or just bullshit the night away, talking, laughing, and having some beers. The past few nights Lupin or he had taken turns cooking for one another, and tonight should have been Lupin’s turn, but instead of the stove hissing and popping with the sound of meat and vegetables cooking, there was the sound of water running in the bathroom that was situated in-between their bedrooms.

Jigen frowned and gave a knock on the door of the bathroom, which was open ajar. “Hey. You still decent in there?”

There was a pause from Lupin. “Yeah. I’m in my boxers. I was running some cold water over it, seeing if that would help.”

“A cold shower? Jeeze, hasn’t Fujiko been trying to talk you into those for years? She’s gonna be thrilled you’re finally following her advice.” Jigen chuckled and slid in, and Lupin gave a snort as he sat on the edge of the tub, his shirt tossed aside on the floor and using his good arm to run cold water on his bruised shoulder with a detachable showerhead. Jigen gave pause, and forgot for a moment that he didn’t have his hat there to hide his emotions. So Lupin was able to see the gunman’s face pale as he looked over the bruising, and his brow furrow in concern.

“Relax. It isn’t as bad as it looks…” Lupin reassured him, but Jigen caught the wince that went with this blatant lie.

“I think you fractured it…” Jigen muttered as he took a seat on the edge of the tub beside Lupin. “C’mere, gimme that.”

“Ugh. You aren’t exactly the cute young blondes that I used to do this with, but I guess you’ll do…” Lupin gave a small, tired smile as he handed the detachable showerhead to Jigen.

“They’re boring, anyway. You see one, you see them all….” Jigen chuckled, and was careful to run the water down the bruised side. 

“How’s your back been? I saw it took you a little more effort than usual to get out from under the car when you were checking the oil pan.”

“You know. Cracks like the boards of an old ship whenever I move it wrong. I guess the discs are degenerating, or something? That’s what a doctor told me, at least.”

It was Lupin’s turn to look panicked at the sound of this. “When did you go to a doctor for that?”

“Just happens sometimes with age.” Jigen shrugged.

“What do they do for something like that?”

“Spinal fusion. Which is about as Goddamn fun as it sounds…” Jigen muttered. “Nothing that some aspirin can’t cure for now. I may have to ask my boss for a raise, though, they want me to get one of those fancy old-guy beds.”

“The ones that raise up with a remote? Oh, that’ll have everyone lining up to your door…” Lupin laughed, and coughed as Jigen quickly turned the showerhead on his face and then back to his shoulder. “H-Hey, watch it! That’s cold!”

“That’s what you get for shit-talking…” Jigen muttered. “I don’t need anybody. Too damn set in my ways, anyway. Who the hell would put up with me?”

“There’s got be someone. I mean, the law of averages is in your favor.”

“What? You trying to pair me off with someone? No, thanks.” Jigen snorted and reached over to turn off the showerhead, and it switched off with a loud squeak. Great, that would probably need a repair, too, along with the car, him, and Lupin. “Come on, I’ll get some Icy Hot on it.”

“Deal. Hey. The mattress in my room is pretty nice, and it’ll probably be a lot better on your back than that board of a mattress you’ve been sleeping on or the couch. Let’s share it, it’ll be like a sleepover! We can do each other’s hair and talk about boys and make pizza!” Lupin’s face lit up and Jigen rolled his eyes and tossed him a towel as he stood from the edge of the tub.

“Hey. Did you start dyeing your hair?” Jigen frowned and narrowed his eyes, and Lupin stopped patting down his sore shoulder to look upward at Jigen.

“What?!” Lupin scoffed. “Why would you even think…?”

“It just looks darker, that’s all. It was starting to fade to like a lighter brown for a while, now it’s back to dark.”

“Meh, you’re seeing things, old man. Maybe you need glasses.” Lupin playfully poked at his side, and Jigen grunted and swatted him again.

“Don’t even joke about that, that’s my meal ticket, there!” Jigen snapped, and Lupin’s playful smile fell. 

“Jeeze. Just a joke, Jigen, lighten up.”

“Well it ain’t funny. Listen… I’ll make dinner tonight. You just… Take care of it next time you feel like it, all right?”

“Yeah… Just the frozen pizza’s fine with me.” Lupin watched as Jigen headed out of the bathroom, and he adjusted the towel over his shoulders. “…Huh. Weird.”

Lupin raised the towel to wipe off some of his hair that had gotten damp when Jigen sprayed him directly in the face, and frowned as he looked back down into the white towel—A touch of the black hair dye had come off and onto it, making it look a lot like the times he’d had to wipe of mascara when in disguise as Fujiko or another beautiful woman.

“That’s what I get for being cheap…” Lupin’s shoulders fell and he gave a sigh of defeat.

Jigen was wordlessly winging a frozen pizza into the oven and went to work on preparing a bagged salad in a large glass bowl when Lupin wandered out, his shoulder still smarting a bit but a little number than it had been.

“Good to know you’re going all-out for me.” Lupin attempted a smile and made sure the towel was twisted inward so that Jigen wouldn’t see the telltale dye on it. 

Jigen didn’t bother to look over from the pantry where he was looking in vain for a bottle of salad dressing. “You wanna set the table?”

“Nah, let’s go eat it in the bedroom. I told you, this was a sleepover!” Lupin giggled playfully, reached into the fridge, and pulled out a six pack of chilled beer from one of the shelves. “I’ll meet you in there.”

Jigen looked down at the bowl of salad, and back to Lupin, who was whistling as he wandered into the bedroom, and wondered the logistics of taking an entire bowl of salad and sharing it on the bed.

“Don’t shake it like that!” He shouted as he noticed Lupin swinging the beer idly in his hand. Jigen flinched as he felt a pain shoot up his back and went back to work preparing the salad with as little possible effort as possible, all but dumping a bottle of vinaigrette he’d managed to scrounge up in the sparse pantry.

He wandered in with two plates piled with pizza and salad (after deciding against taking the entire bowl with him) and found that Lupin was already down to a fresh pair of boxers, one beer in, and searching through basic cable in vain for a decent movie to put on.

“What?! That can’t be right!” Lupin frowned as he read the words on the screen, and Jigen set down one of the plates on the nearby nightstand and turned his attention to the screen. “It says this one came out thirty years ago! I haven’t activated my new burner phone; can you check that?”

“That’s right. That was during the winter Olympics and I was in town working as a bodyguard for a sultan who was watching the games…. Probably rigging a few of them, too.” Jigen started to get into bed after passing Lupin his plate, and Lupin made a noise of protest.

“Get comfortable. What the hell, it’s just us and I think the horses out back.”

Jigen sighed and loosened his tie and slipped off his suit jacket. “Those horses are the devil. The one hissed at me.”

“Horses don’t hiss.”

“That one does. I’m telling you, if it weren’t for that damn fence, they’d have trampled me the first day we got here.” Jigen unbuttoned his shirt and set it aside, and heard the familiar cracking of his back as he slipped out of his pants and under the fluffy blue comforter on the bed.

Oh.

Oh, that was definitely nicer than the couch or his own mattress.

“So… I knew you when you were working that Olympics… We’ve known one another over thirty years?!” Lupin stopped mid-bite of his salad, his eyes wide in the realization of this, and Jigen looked upward to do the mental math.

“Yeah, that’s about right…” And Jigen picked up his plate, and Lupin frowned with confusion as Jigen stopped just short from picking up his slice of pizza, and broke out into a full-on, almost cackle.

“Ummm… You okay there?”

“Yeah. I just figured out Fujiko’s real age, and it ain’t what she’s been telling people! Oh. Oh my God, that’s great!”

“Be nice; she hasn’t done anything to you in a long time.” Lupin gave almost a pout at this while Jigen continued laughing and reached over him to take one of the beers. “Come on, she’s sensitive about that, like you with the vision thing!”

“I ain’t gonna say anything because I value my life. I just think it’s great that there are at least three people in this world who know the truth it about ten years off from the fiction she’s telling…”

“Uh-huh. You wouldn’t like anyone spilling your secrets.” Lupin settled on the action movie, and sat back to eat his pizza.

“Got no one to tell the secrets to. That’s what happens when you keep life simple and keep your circle small.”

Lupin gave a skeptical glance at this. “Yeah… You have a few, you just think you’re slick with them.”

Jigen eyed the towel around Lupin’s shoulders, and noticed the black dye. “Guess with both suck at it, huh?”

“…” Lupin looked at the towel and huffed. “Okay! So I’m a little gray around the temples, it’s a sign of being distinguished! At least that’s a lot better than what you pull!”

“And what do I pull?”

Lupin gave him a plain, tired frown. “You have a lot of friends.”

“Okay? We aren’t close.”

“A lot you were close to…. You get along really well with your exes for someone of your profession and demeanor, you know that?... You don’t have to explain everyone away as “an old friend”. It’s okay if you’ve been in love before, Jigen.”

Jigen’s laugh stopped at this. He looked down at his plate and away from Lupin, and eventually he turned his attention to the TV. Explosions, car chases. Things he could focus on instead of that.

“…Why didn’t you ever marry any of them? Heck, even I’ve been married a few times. You’re a catch, after all.” Jigen heard Lupin’s voice, but didn’t look to him. “Goemon’s been close to getting married. Fujiko’s been married a few times, I have that on good authority. You’re the only one of us who hasn’t, although honestly, I think you’ve had the most serious relationships, probably.”

Because that was terrifying, Jigen thought. Because that meant an end to the life he had, or at least a change to it. Because it meant no more times like this. He’d handled it badly enough when Lupin settled down, but at least he knew those times would fizzle out, Lupin would get bored. Lupin would come back. And then they’d be on another adventure.

“…Marriage isn’t for everyone.” Jigen finally broke the silence with a shrug, and bit into his pizza. He still refused to look over to Lupin in the room lit only by the television. The evening was starting to set in, and through the white shades he could make out the red summer sun vanishing over the trees. Soon the moon would be out, along with the fireflies that danced around the tall grass neither of them had bothered to mow.

“Yeah. That’s true. But still. You could always get a relationship or something.”

“What’s with all of that talk of relationships all of a sudden? I have everything I need.”

“Neither of us is gonna be around forever.”

Jigen shot his head over to Lupin. “Jesus Christ, are you dying?”

“What?!” Lupin squeaked. “N-No! I just! Ugh. We’re getting older.”

“Yeah? So? We just put a bandage or some ice on it, and we’re fine.” Jigen set aside his plate and focused on nursing his beer; his appetite was all but gone now.

“I know… I’d be okay if something happened and it was just me. I have Fujiko, I have other stuff in place… Ugh, I have Albert in a pinch, I guess.” Lupin scratched his head with his good arm and made a face of disdain at the mere thought of going to Albert for help.

“Yeah?”

“… I don’t know if you’d be okay if something happened to me. That’s all.”

“What the hell? You’re sounding like we’re married!” Jigen laughed in disbelief at this, and Lupin glanced out the side of his eye to Jigen, and then around at the situation they were in, sharing one another’s aches and pains, curled up in a bed in their underwear, eating dinner in a lonely Georgia farmhouse while a mindless action movie played in the background.

“I mean. It kinda feels that way sometimes, doesn’t it?” 

Jigen stopped drinking his beer, and could feel his heart start to quicken. He was grateful for the action movie, because if the house had been mute, Lupin would’ve heard it beating for sure in the silence of the room. “I mean. We’re always together. We have been… For years now. What the hell is going to happen to you if I’m not there?”

“I’m not incapable of taking care of myself, Lupin!” Jigen attempted to laugh this off, but Lupin’s serious expression let Jigen know that this didn’t fully convince him.

“…I think I want to get married.”

Lupin then spent the next few minutes patting Jigen on the back as the slightly older man choked on his beer, yelping as he moved too quick and made his shoulder, which had only just stopped hurting, burn and ache all over again as he leaned against the bed on it.

“You think we should WHAT?!” Jigen wiped his mouth and looked over his shoulder to Lupin, his eyes wide with confusion and disbelief at what he had heard.

“Just like, for safety’s sake, you know?... That way if something happened to one of us, we’d be okay. I’m not asking you to like, meet me in a church in the morning, but it might be a smart move, you know?”

“Since when haven you cared about the legality of anything?!”

“Since I found out that you’re hearing words like “spinal fusion”,” Lupin replied with a frown, and Jigen’s anger slowly subsided as he watched his friend, deep in thought.

“…You don’t even like guys that way. Do you?” Jigen ventured to ask, and Lupin thought for a moment, and only gave a shrug in return, immediately groaning and regretting this as he did so and curling up on his side on the bed.

“Shit, stay still for a few minutes for once in your life, okay?” Jigen sighed and hovered a hand over his friend’s shoulder, and gently rested his hand over it. “Don’t aggravate it anymore than you need to right now. We’re taking you to that clinic we saw on the way into town in the morning, I don’t like the look of that.”

“See? This is what I mean. We just… Sort of take care of one another. It just… Makes sense. I know that isn’t really romantic, but I guess this isn’t, either…” Lupin muttered as he felt the calloused hand run over his bare shoulder. All right. Maybe there was a touch of romance to the way Jigen gently rubbed over the aching spot.

“…What about Fujiko?” Jigen’s voice was calm and even after a silence. He reached over Lupin for the remote, and switched off the television, leaving them in silence, and in an ever-darkening room. “You aren’t giving up on her, are you? Much as I don’t like her, I don’t want to see you give up on stuff you care about. Even if it’s something that’s bitten you in the ass for over thirty years… Hehe…”

“Quit being mean. And I love her. But… She isn’t the most stable thing in my life. I thought about it, and each time I think about it, it’s you. I don’t know. That part’s confusing, still. I’d have to work that out for sure, but I have time. All I know is, we’re getting older, and it looks like we’re going to end up growing old together… So, we may as well get stuff in order for that, right?”

“…You’re really being serious right now…” Jigen muttered. He sighed and sunk down in the gloriously cushy bed; he needed to shift to this position to keep his back from screaming at him while he rubbed Lupin’s shoulder. “…What would that mean for… Everything else?”  
'  
“You really are scared of shaking up the status quo, aren’t you?” Lupin scooted closer to him, and Jigen gulped dryly. “I guess we can figure that out, too. I just… Want you to be okay if anything happens. That’s all.”  
Jigen’s mind raced. He’d pushed away any thoughts of marriage a long, long while ago, when he’d made a choice to follow this life. But they worked together, they cooked together, fought together—There were even times when they’d slept in the same bed or had to share the same bath, each of which was a particularly harrowing experience for Jigen. The last thing he wanted was to scare off the man he shared all this with, that he was willing to let down his walls for.  
But it had been over thirty years at this point. What the hell would scare off Lupin at this point that he hadn’t already tried?

Well. 

There was one thing.

“…Is this just like… A formality thing… Or where you thinking a little more to it than that…?” He didn’t even know where to begin with broaching this subject and could feel his face glowing at the thought of what role intimacy would play in a setup like this.

Lupin looked over his shoulder, raised an eyebrow, and gave almost a purr. “Daisuke Jigen, are you seducing me?”

“W-What?!” Jigen’s hand shot up from off Lupin’s shoulder. “No! It’s just—”

“Relax, Jigen!” Lupin laughed, and shifted to lay on his back and look him over. Jigen could tell when Lupin smiled, even in the dark. After all these years, he just knew from the change in his voice. “It’s okay to shake up the status quo a little bit, you know?”

“What’s that supposed to—” Jigen was stopped as he was gripped around the lower jaw and Lupin pulled him over and pecked him on the lips. It would have been almost romantic if Lupin hadn’t touched exactly where he was needing a root canal, pressing down on the pain point with this thumb. Jigen gave a yelp, and Lupin’s eyes flew open in response.

“The hell? Are you made of glass now, old man?!” Lupin giggled, and Jigen grunted and rubbed his aching jaw.

“Not funny.”

“Nah. Cute, though. You okay?”

“Yes…How many of those beers have you had?”

“One. I actually think I’m just actually getting to that age where I don’t care about certain things anymore.” Lupin gave a small, tired smile. “Shame I didn’t do that earlier. A guy with that many serious exes must have some seriously good skills, with his hands and elsewhere.”

Jigen was red enough to almost light up the dark room and was only silent in response. Lupin didn’t need to have a light to know this. After all this time, he knew what flustered the gunman.

“…So? Marry me?” Lupin asked in the silence.

“…Yeah. I mean. Sure. Whatever,” Jigen muttered in the dark, and Lupin laughed in return. “What?!”

“It’s just… You must be good in bed. You are not a romantic, Mr. Lupin!”

“Don’t call me that, I’m keepin’ my damn name! And I can be romantic as shit!” Jigen growled this, and Lupin’s laugh only continued. “Just for that? I’m waiting until marriage!”

“What? No! Baby, don’t be cold like that!” Lupin laughed and pulled him into a hug, and kissed him on the forehead and cheek, and finally pecked him on the lips again. “So, what were we thinking? A beach wedding, church?”

“We file in Montana. I don’t think either of us have to be present for it. It’s called a double-proxy marriage.”

“…How do you just know something like that?” Lupin stopped the kisses just long enough to look down at Jigen in awe and just the slightest hint of worry, and Jigen gave a shrug in response, and looked through his bushy hair. “…Oh my God, have you been engaged before?!”

“A guy has to have a few secrets.” Jigen gave an almost shy smile, and reached up to kiss Lupin gently—A little deeper than the small pecks Lupin had been delivering; a sign he wouldn’t exactly mind something a little more bold. Lupin greeted this with a smile, and pressed his forehead against Jigen’s, and gave a chuckle.

“Hey. I know we’re doing this just in case one of use gets hurt, or something happens. But try to not get hurt or leave me for a long while, okay? I want to get a few of those secrets out of you.”

“I mean, you’ll get my real name out of this, isn’t that enough?”

Lupin blinked as this realization dawned on him. “That’s right! Jigen is a pseudonym! What’s your real name, huh?”

“You’ll find out when we file.”

“Oh, come on! Tell me!” Lupin curled up against Jigen, and Jigen slowly wrapped an arm around Lupin, being careful not to jostle his arm. When even was the last time someone had been curled up against him like this and he’d felt this comfortable about it?

Never.

He’d never felt this comfortable with someone in his arms. There had times where he’d felt comfort, relaxation.

This was the one time where it felt all of those things, but on top of everything, it felt…. Right.

“Paul?”

“No.”

“Yasuo?”

“What? No!”

“Brian? Am I marrying a Brian?”

“You’ll find out when we get the paperwork!” Jigen tried to sound as annoyed as possible, but couldn’t hide the small, amused chuckle. “Quit bouncing around, you’re hurtin’ my damn back!”

“I’m calling you nothing but your real name once I know, just so you know.”

He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t change the status quo that much. He wouldn’t want to. Jigen would always be Jigen. He liked things as they were. At least some things. But it was still fun to tease Jigen about it a little as they laid in the bed together, in the dark room, Lupin taking guesses on Jigen’s real name while the fireflies started to dance around outside and the car remained in the dusty detached garage, little more than a pile of scrap that had been dressed up nicely at this point.  
No matter what changed—Names, cars, locations, one thing was constant—They had one another, and they both had someone to grow old with. Someone to share their aches and pains with, and in addition to this, someone to share the quiet moments, like pizza in a bedroom, with.


End file.
